is a 2001

2001 in film

The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...

 comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 written and directed by Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 Koki Mitani

Koki Mitani

is a Japanese playwright, screenwriter, actor and film director. He was previously married to Japanese actress Satomi Kobayashi. The name "Koki" is a combination of two Japanese characters - 幸 "Happy" and 喜 "Pleased". In an attempt to add his own character to his movies, as a director he takes...

. The film is about an affluent couple who decide to build a new house, and the clash between traditional Japanese and modern western styles between the people they hire to build it.

Cast members include Naoki Tanaka

Naoki Tanaka

is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet , from Niigata Prefectural eletorate. He is a native of Kanazawa, Ishikawa and graduate of Keio University. When he married Makiko Tanaka he changed his family name to hers. He was elected to...

 (Iijima Naosuke, the husband), Akiko Yagi (Iijima Tamiko, the wife), Toshiaki Karasawa

Toshiaki Karasawa

is a Japanese theatre and film actor. He made his theatrical debut in the play Voice Review Stay Gold in 1987. He specialises in theatrical action sequences such as swordplay and fighting...

 (Yanagisawa, the interior designer) and Kunie Tanaka

Kunie Tanaka

is a Japanese actor who has appeared in such films as Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro and The Bad Sleep Well and Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan.He has been nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statuette for Gakko in 1993.-Selected filmography:*Minna no Ie aka...

 (Tamiko's father, the builder).

The film was nominated for six Japanese Academy Awards

Japanese Academy Awards

The , often called the Japan Academy Awards or the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Nippon Academy-shō Association for excellence in Japanese film...

. Naoki Tanaka and Akiko Yagi were named as Newcomers of the Year; Tanaka also won the Most Popular Performer prize.

Plot

Naosuke and Tamiko are a happily married couple, and have just bought some land in the countryside to build their new house on. They ask Yanagisawa, Tamiko's junior at university and an interior designer to design it. However, because he is not a qualified architect, they need someone else to apply for consent and built it. They ask Tamiko's father, a builder, to do this.

Yanagisawa is a modernist, influenced by American architecture; Tamako's father is a traditionalist. The two soon come into conflict over the design of the house. After many disagreements, they eventually start to understand each other's way of thinking. The house is successfully completed.